♣Ambitious♣

Swedish oxers and slanted verticals are not my thing, no matter how many distances Leo will take them from. Now take into consideration that I experienced something pretty close to torture prior to jumping. I was physically done before we even cantered. As much as I'm loving the nice weather, it was pretty hot and humid on Sunday, and our lesson was at 1pm. Horses and riders all need to be getting into better shape as higher temperatures become the norm, so this lesson was a work out to say the least. We started out with our usual two-point at the walk and trot. From the very beginning, it was work. We two-pointed at the trot for 2-3 times longer than usual, then it was rising trot with circles in every corner, which also took longer, then it was back to two-point for many laps in both directions . Miss J said that Leo was moving with such little impulsion that he looked like he was dying. I think I was the more dead one of the two of us. When we did finish the flatwork bootca...

Step aside, Seth. I'm who the people want to see. fight me, seth It was a full weekend to say the least starting with a very cold and windy Saturday. The pasture didn't take too long due to the rain we received last week, but it was so cold that the horses didn't get turned out until right before I was done. When we did get them out, it was a bunch of running and bucking and carrying on as horses like to do. As much as I really didn't want to deal with a fresh horse, I sucked it up and did a short ride on Baby. Fortunately, she was a steady Eddy, easy off the aids, forward, relaxed. These are really the best rides. Quarter sheet??? In spring?? When will the lies end??? I took my double lessons today with Miss J. First was Leo at noon, then Corbin at 3:30. I'd like to joke that Leo was being a speedy little lion today, but a lion can't compare to what he was doing. It wasn't too great from the start. He went to a show last weekend, but hadn...

Since I actually put my stirrups to a decent length today, I rode like I kind of knew what I was doing. I was on Leo today which meant I got to use the cheese grater stirrups. Why keep weight in your feet when you can just nail the iron to your boot? I'll admit it, I took advantage of the graters; Leo did one fantastic canter transition when we first started, then the rest were just me throwing my outside leg back trying to get some sort of forward motion. Outside of our usual walk, trot, canter, Miss J threw in some no stirrup work at the sitting trot. She also had us pick up our stirrups while trotting which didn't work for me. weeeeeee We got to do some jumping too, but it was small stuff because, apparently, at the last show—which I was not at, let the record show—everyone was barreling through the rollbacks. For that reason, turns were the focus for today. The first turn was the brick to the green, ya know, the thing that I screwed up entirely on my first IEA less...

It's a rare phrase to hear me say. We had an over fences lesson last night. I missed last week due to a transportation issue, and we didn't jump the week before that, so I was itching to get on a horse. I started out on Leo today. Lucky for me, the saddle I used was an old, plan flap, CC, deep seated bundle of joy. Unfortunately, while the seat fit my butt, the flap did not quite fit my leg. Plus, when I was pulling my stirrups down, I didn't notice that they were the cheese grater kind, and my gloves are suddenly missing, so, yeah, that was not a pleasant experience. Miss J also had me drop my stirrups down (to where they're supposed to be, but I don't like a long stirrup anymore), and I spent the first two thirds or so of the lesson with a leg longer than a Justin Timberlake song. We did the usual two-point at the walk and trot, then rising trot. After that, Miss J had us do circles in each corner, and everyone had to say where they felt any resistance from th...

  Ah, yes, it is, in fact, time for change. I forgot to mention in my last post that Thursday was my last lesson on Baby and with Miss S for a while. A local woman has decided to start an IEA team at her barn. Miss S mentioned it to me, and, at first, I simply didn't want to. I'd heard about IEA before and thought it would be a cool thing to do, but I just brushed it off because I thought there was no need to change anything riding wise. Then the texts poured in, and I was sucked into this thing. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to afford riding with Miss S and riding with the team. I actually thought I could for a couple of days, then my dad talked some sense into me, and I picked to ride on the team. It's more expensive, there are shows every month, and the barn is an hour away, but, when opportunity comes knocking, you don't ask it to wait. My first lesson was on Friday. Cas is also on the team, and her mom is my ride for the next couple of months. It's...